The Smart, The Sweet, The Cunning, And The Brave
by Emma Lovegood
Summary: The story of a girl who attended the first seven years of Hogwarts.
1. Default Chapter

The Smart, the Sweet, the Cunning, and the Brave  
  
This is my first fic before Harry was born so please be nice to me. There will be no Old English because I don't know enough of it to put in a story and it might confuse some people. It takes place from the first original year in Hogwarts to the seventh.  
  
The four founders of Hogwarts stood up and the din of the Great Hall ceased immediately. Ella examined all of them in turn as they spoke.  
  
One of the men had black hair and looked extremely sinister. Ella decided that she did not like him very much.  
  
The other man had red hair and looked welcoming and happy. Ella thought he looked perfectly agreeable but was not drawn to him.  
  
One of the women had long golden hair and was slightly plump. Ella liked her extremely but not as much as the last of the founders.  
  
She had black hair that seemed to be alive and have its own opinions about its surroundings. She had bewitching blue eyes that seemed to look deep into your soul and high cheekbones that brought even more wisdom to her face if that was at all possible. Ella decided that she liked this woman the most of the four founders.  
  
"Rose, Ella." The calling of her name jostled Ella out of her thoughts. " Follow me." The founders led her into a small room at the back of the Great Hall with a fireplace and five armchairs. "Now, Ella, do not be afraid. We will ask you one question each to sort you into a house," Said the red- haired man.  
  
Ok, be patient with me. This is only my first chapter and the story will get much more exciting. The Sorting Hat came later on in my story so at the particular time the founders asked a question each.  
  
R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R R/R 


	2. New Friends and Terms

"Ravenclaw!" The man with the red hair (who's name, Ella learned, was Professor Gryffindor) announced. Ella breathed out with relief. Ravenclaw was the house of the beautiful woman. The other man was named Slytherin, and the blonde woman was Hufflepuff.

Ella went to join the sorted Ravenclaw students at a long oaken table.

She began to wonder why this was called a feast. Not a crumb of food lay on the table. She soon realized that she had thought this too soon for piles of food soon appeared out of thin air.

"Hello," a blonde girl next to Ella said to her. "My name is Phoebe Namous," the girl acknowledged an Egyprian girl across the table, "this is my best friend River Fletefoot."

"Not that I like the name River," the girl across the table sighed, "My parents always were strange." She looked up at the ceiling dreamily and said simply, "I hope this clears up by tomorrow."

Ella looked up at the ceiling curiously to find that there wasn't any. All she could see was a dark, dreary sky. "Oh my goodness."

"Don't worry," Phoebe said. "It is only an enchantment."

"How would you know that?" her friend countered.

Phoebe rolled her eyes, "It's obvious."

River gave a distinct sigh of defeat and began to eat a rather large piece of corn.

"Are you a muggleborn?" Phoebe asked.

"A what?" Ella gave a look of extreme confusion.

"Do you have non-magical parents?" River supplied. "We'll take that as a yes."

"Oh," Ella said, embarrassed that she didn't know what seemed so simple. She continued as she felt the slight blush leaving her cheeks, "my mother's grandmother was a witch, but ever since my relatives haven't had an ounce of magic in them. What about you two?"

"My sister and I," Phoebe pointed to a girl at the table for Slytherins, "are purebloods, or have complete magical ancestry, but River's aunt is the only magical person of her family except her aunt. We're distant cousins, but her close relatives are mostly non-magical people born from wizarding families. They can also be called squibs."

At the end of the feast all of the founders stood up and began calling for their house students to follow them.

Ella marveled at the many rooms she passed as she followed Ravenclaw to her house.

"Welcome to the Ravenclaw common room and dormitories," She said as she came to a halt in front a statue of a regal looking woman with butterfly wings sprouting out of her back sitting sidesaddle on a Unicorn. She held up a necklace that had a pendant in the shape of an ornate wand, "This is your key to your house. You will press it to her hand," she pointed to a space on the woman's hand that everyone just noticed to have a small engraving in the same shape of the pendant on it, "and the statue will open up to a staircase. You will follow that staircase down and find yourself in your common room."

She demonstrated, led them down to a handsome blue and silver common room with couches, tables, desks, and an ornately decorated fireplace, and gave them instructions as to what they should do in the case of an emergency, showed them to their dormitories. Once everyone was given a necklace Ravenclaw added that the necklaces would need to be kept secret.

Ella lay in her bed with a full stomach and a happy disposition. She began to recount her sorting.

Be patient with all the cliffies I will try to update soon so I bid you good day.

R/R R/R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	3. The Sorting and the Tiger

The Sorting and the Tiger

Ella was worried. What kind of questions will they ask? I don't know anything about the wizarding world. Oh no, what will happen if I don't answer any of the questions correctly. Will they kick me out?

Ella shoved these thoughts aside as Slytherin asked the first question.

"Would you seek power over truth?"

"Well," said Ella slowly, "no."

"Would you risk your life for a man or woman?" Ella decided that as much as she liked Gryfindor she also had no idea what he was playing at.

"That depends on the person I am saving."

"Would you take a poor man or woman in or give them things to help?" Hufflepuff asked.

"Depends on the circumstances," said Ella after deep consideration.

"Would you use brains or brawn to defeat someone?" Ravenclaw asked the final question.

"Well, I suppose brains." Ella said after lighter consideration than the previous question.

"All right Ella, you may return to the Great Hall and we will inform you on your house in a moment," Griffindor said.

Relieved, Ella left the room to await information on the house she had been placed in.

Ella woke up the next morning feeling a tight pressure on her chest. She opened her eyes to find a pair of bright green eyes attached to a white face.

She sat up immediately and the white tiger kitten raced across the room. It entered the curtains of a bed and yowled to get the attention of the inhabitant.

"What's going on?" a head with straight black hair in resemblance to Riverpoked out of the curtains. "What happened to Snowstreaks?"

"Who?" Phoebe's voice was added to the mewing of Snowstreaks.

"My white tiger."

"What!"

"She is only a kitten," said the girl while rolling her eyes.

"Just that then, Tempris. Sorry, this is my sister," said River who had walked in without anyone noticing, fully clothed with an amused look in her eyes. "C'mon, we have to eat before Transfiguration."

Ella pulled the bed hangings farther over so that she could change without having to fight the girls for the bathroom.

She tightened a corset around her stomach, and fixed a dark blue silk undergarment over that. To finish the ensemble she tied her black robe over everything and clasped a silver necklace with a pearl drop around her neckand applied matching earrings. She pulled her hair into a tight bun and went down to the Great Hall with her new friends. As they talked and giggled, Ella thought about the cold halls and hearts that she had left behind, but Ella knew that someday she would have to face her childhood fears.

Ok, that was only cliffyish. Read and review and you may get the answer in the next chapter, no I'm not above bribery.


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